The tearoom at Relics has daily soup and quiche specials. / Jess Heugel/For the News-Leader

Julie Hoos

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Reader Julie Hoos and her friend Debby Freiman like to go to lunch, and they’re always looking for new and different places. Debby suggested the Relics Antique Mall Tearoom about a year ago, and Julie’s been hooked ever since.

Julie's Take

Most people discover the tearoom located inside Missouri’s largest antique mall, Relics, because they’re actually looking at the antiques, but Julie comes to the tearoom specifically for the food. “It’s tucked away, but it gets really busy,” she says. “It’s kinda fun to walk around after, too.”

We start our meal with iced tea, and we get the mango apricot iced tea ($1.99). It’s not sweet, but the fruit gives the tea great flavor. “I didn’t know if I’d like it, but for a change, it’s not bad at all,” she says.

For her meal, Julie chooses the Cobb Salad ($7.95). At Relics, salads come without meat, but guests have the option to add meat if they’d like. Julie opts for her salad sans meat, but it does have avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, eggs, feta cheese and buttered crustinis. She orders her dressing, bleu cheese, on the side. “I don’t like a lot of dressing,” she says. One of the things she enjoys about the salad is that it comes without bacon, though Cobbs typically do have bacon. “Not having the bacon allows you to taste everything else in there,” she explains. The only thing she would add to the salad would be a bit of red pepper.

Julie chooses a light lunch, because her favorite part of a meal out is the dessert. “That’s my biggest downfall,” she says. “I love dessert. I know what my priorities are.”

She chooses the caramel apple pie ($3.99). “I like pies when the crust is really good,” she says, and add that Relics has the perfect crust. “I’m very picky,” she says.

Sometimes apple pies are a bit too sweet, but that’s not a problem at Relics. The caramel drizzle adds some sweetness, but it’s not overpowering.

Katie's Take

I had no idea that Missouri’s largest antique mall was located just a couple of miles from me, but then again, I don’t really know much about antiques, except for what I watch on “Antiques Roadshow.” Walking into Relics is a feast for the eyes, and even before I sit down with Julie, I enjoy looking over the booths at the eclectic items available.

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The main event for us is obviously the food, and even if I get to scour antiques for hours, if the food at Relics isn’t good, I won’t really have a reason to come back. My stomach dictates most of my choices.

I find the mango apricot tea is not sweet, and I enjoy the light hint of fruit flavor, which lingers on my tongue long after I take a sip.

I decide on the Ham on a Salted Pretzel Roll sandwich ($7.95). “I thought that was amazing when I had it,” Julie tells me. Our server says it’s great, too, so I’m not surprised that I’m absolutely in love with the sandwich. The salty roll goes well with the ham, and the melted cheese on the toasted bun just ties it all together. There’s a lot of cheese, and I love the way the smoky cheddar complements the ham.

I get a side salad with dill dressing, as the menu says it’s made in house. The dressing is a bit thicker than a store-bought dressing, and it has ample flecks of dill.

Even though I didn’t really eat light for my meal like Julie did, I’m still up for dessert. I decide on the carrot cake ($5.50). It has pineapple in it, and I find that that keeps it really moist. The icing is different from others I’ve tried. I’d say that the Buzz has the best carrot cake in Springfield, but Relics is a definite close second. It’s the icing. It’s different, sweet and goes so well with the cake.

The Dish, the Restaurant

Kitchen manager Daryl Tate says the restaurant inside Relics Antique Mall opened a little over a year ago. He wanted to offer affordable food options for antiques shoppers. Because the mall is the largest in Missouri, it takes awhile for people to get through, and he wanted a place where they could stop, eat and then keep on shopping and browsing. “It would help customers out,” he says.

So far, he says the restaurant has been received quite well. “We get a lot of good reviews,” he says.

In addition to the regular menu items, the tearoom has daily soup and quiche specials. The most popular menu item, the Chicken Waldorf, is on a croissant that’s baked fresh every morning. “It’s by far our top seller,” he says. It has grapes, apples, celery, red onions, dried cranberries and walnuts blended with the chicken in a tarragon mayonnaise.

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The Cobb Salad that Julie enjoys consists of a lettuce blend that’s cut in house, containing leaf lettuces, Romaine and spinach. “You get all those good tastes and flavors,” Daryl says. “It’s great for you.” Customers can add deli turkey, chicken, beef, bacon or grilled chicken.

The Ham on a Salted Pretzel Roll is one of Daryl’s favorite items. “The pretzel roll brings it together. I’m a pretzel person,” he says. On the pretzel roll, he puts sea salt, chutney on the bottom, ham and cheddar cheese. It’s all layered and placed in the oven.

The crust and the caramel drizzle for the caramel apple pie are made in house, though the filling isn’t. The carrot cake that I’m crazy about is made completely in house, though. Daryl says the icing is a cross between Devonshire cream and cream cheese icing. “It seems to have enough sweetness, but it’s not overpowering,” he says. The cake itself “has a great texture, too.”

Whether you like antiques or not, Relics Antique Mall Tearoom has great flavors and tasty desserts, too. You might even find that you enjoy checking out the goods for sale, too, as you walk in or out.